Posted on November, 11 2015

China and the US have promised to phase out their domestic ivory trades. While no deadlines have been set, both presidents  pledged to take “timely steps to halt the domestic commercial trade in ivory” as part of global efforts to tackle the poaching crisis. Around 30,000 African elephants are killed each year. Both countries also publicly crushed stockpiles of confiscated ivory to signal their commitment to tackling the illegal trade. Meanwhile, Thailand has begun regulating its domestic market, resulting in 44,000 people registering over 220 tonnes of ivory. WWF welcomes these measures and the determination of US and China to close their markets.  And the sooner the better. In June, Tanzania announced it had lost 60 percent of its elephants in the past five years.